Oscar S Wyatt

Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. pleaded guilty to charges that he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the United Nations oil-for-food program. Wyatt told the federal judge in Manhattan that he agreed in December 2001 to advise others to pay a surcharge into an Iraqi account in Jordan in violation of a program rule calling for no direct payments to Iraq.

Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. pleaded guilty to charges that he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the United Nations oil-for-food program. Wyatt told the federal judge in Manhattan that he agreed in December 2001 to advise others to pay a surcharge into an Iraqi account in Jordan in violation of a program rule calling for no direct payments to Iraq.

About 500 foreign hostages, including 22 Americans, left Iraq for home. The Americans and eight relatives traveled on a special flight arranged by former Treasury Secretary John B. Connally and Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt. The hostage airlifts apparently were negotiated before Iraq's blanket offer to free all hostages. Meanwhile, foreign nationals who had been held as "human shields" at strategic sites in Iraq streamed into Baghdad in anticipation of their imminent release.

About 500 foreign hostages, including 22 Americans, left Iraq for home. The Americans and eight relatives traveled on a special flight arranged by former Treasury Secretary John B. Connally and Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt. The hostage airlifts apparently were negotiated before Iraq's blanket offer to free all hostages. Meanwhile, foreign nationals who had been held as "human shields" at strategic sites in Iraq streamed into Baghdad in anticipation of their imminent release.

The two Texans pulled no punches, and they reported that Saddam Hussein listened intently as they made their strong plea. Release all the hostages, they urged the Iraqi president. The "human shields" are doing you no good, they said they told him. And they will not be a deciding factor if President Bush should order an attack against Iraq. So why keep them? Let them go, John B. Connally and Oscar S. Wyatt said to Hussein. "It's hurting you in the eyes of the world," said Connally, a former U.S.

Free at last, about 500 foreign hostages, including 22 Americans, began flying home Saturday night, becoming the first to leave here following Saddam Hussein's declaration of general amnesty for all foreigners in Iraq and Kuwait. Another 400 or more Americans are expected to leave today, a senior U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said Saturday night.

Laker Plans New Transatlantic Air Service: Sir Freddie Laker, who pioneered low-cost transatlantic air service nearly two decades ago only to see his airline fail five years later, is giving it another go--but this time with a few frills. Laker and Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. said they will form a new carrier, Laker Airways Inc., to fly between Florida and Britain, Italy and Germany. "We think we will have an airplane in the air by Christmas," Laker said.

Coastal Corp. abandoned a proposed $665-million pipeline that would have carried natural gas into California from Wyoming, leaving a rival pipeline proposal the apparent winner in a high-stakes race to meet the growing gas needs of the state's oil producers and utilities. Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., chairman of Houston-based Coastal, said through a spokesman that the decision was based on fears of an economic slowdown and tough competition from the Kern River Gas Transmission Co.'

The two Texans pulled no punches, and they reported that Saddam Hussein listened intently as they made their strong plea. Release all the hostages, they urged the Iraqi president. The "human shields" are doing you no good, they said they told him. And they will not be a deciding factor if President Bush should order an attack against Iraq. So why keep them? Let them go, John B. Connally and Oscar S. Wyatt said to Hussein. "It's hurting you in the eyes of the world," said Connally, a former U.S.

Free at last, about 500 foreign hostages, including 22 Americans, began flying home Saturday night, becoming the first to leave here following Saddam Hussein's declaration of general amnesty for all foreigners in Iraq and Kuwait. Another 400 or more Americans are expected to leave today, a senior U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said Saturday night.

THE HAFTS: Herbert and Gloria Haft, married 45 years, toiled for decades to build an empire that included three children and up to $1 billion in assets--all starting from a single drugstore where he was the pharmacist and she the cosmetologist. What could go wrong? Everything. In a Washington, D.C.

American Natural Resources Co. and Houston-based Coastal Corp. officials abruptly changed course Wednesday, undertaking discussion of a $2.4-billion friendly merger of the two energy companies. The companies said in a joint statement that they were "engaged in serious negotiations involving a possible business combination pursuant to which shareholders of ANR will receive $65 per share in cash. There can be no assurance a definitive agreement will be reached between the two companies."